WEEK 7
Meditation Practice
This week we’re introducing our third type of meditation — Body Awareness Meditation. Practicing Breath Awareness Meditation for the last few weeks will have started to increase your capacity to pay attention — to keep you awareness on an object (your breath) without your mind wandering. Now we have tamed the mind a little and have a bit more control of it, we will start using it as a tool for self-observation and self-purification — to decondition ourselves from habits, beliefs, behaviours, and thought patterns that cause us to suffer.
With long-term practice, you will discover that, once all the conditioning is removed, all that is left is love — this is the natural state of our mind.
Don’t worry too much about do exactly five minutes of Breath Awareness Meditation and five minutes of Body Awareness Meditation (and five minutes of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Sunday). By now, you will have an idea of what meditating for five minutes feels like, so simply move from one type of meditation to the next when you feel it has been about five minutes. If you’re using an alarm to let you know when your meditation time is up, then set it for the full length of time (10 minutes Monday-Saturday and 15 minutes on Sunday) so you can move through the types of meditation without distraction.
Monday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Tuesday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Wednesday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Thursday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Friday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Saturday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Sunday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness + 5 minutes Loving-Kindness
If you’ve forgotten what to do in the Body Awareness Meditation then you can find full instructions in the main guide or I’ve popped them at the bottom of this page.
With long-term practice, you will discover that, once all the conditioning is removed, all that is left is love — this is the natural state of our mind.
Don’t worry too much about do exactly five minutes of Breath Awareness Meditation and five minutes of Body Awareness Meditation (and five minutes of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Sunday). By now, you will have an idea of what meditating for five minutes feels like, so simply move from one type of meditation to the next when you feel it has been about five minutes. If you’re using an alarm to let you know when your meditation time is up, then set it for the full length of time (10 minutes Monday-Saturday and 15 minutes on Sunday) so you can move through the types of meditation without distraction.
Monday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Tuesday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Wednesday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Thursday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Friday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Saturday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness
Sunday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 5 minutes Body Awareness + 5 minutes Loving-Kindness
If you’ve forgotten what to do in the Body Awareness Meditation then you can find full instructions in the main guide or I’ve popped them at the bottom of this page.
Mindful Living Practice — R.A.I.N.
We’re seven weeks in and by now, you may have noticed that meditation and mindful living take guts — a gentle type of courage is required for us to wake up to the fullness of what it means to be fully human and to embrace the sacred messiness of life.
R.A.I.N. is an acronym for a mindfulness practice that helps us be with difficult emotions — the ones we usually run from or try to numb with distractions or food or alcohol or work or constant busyness. But where do you think the emotions we refuse to feel go? They don’t just disappear. They’re still there, within us, sneaking out in different ways — depression, unworthiness, afraidness.
R.A.I.N. helps you embrace whatever is happening in this moment — joy, pain, fear, loss. It de-conditions the habitual ways you would you usually resist what you are experiencing and brings a new peace, acceptance and openness to our lives.
RAIN stands for:
When you find yourself in a challenging situation this week — maybe your kids are driving you crazy, or you feel overwhelmed with work, or you are stuck in the cycle of never feeling enough, instead of acting habitually, practise R.A.I.N.
Pay attention to what’s going on inside without judgement (the thoughts, feelings and physical sensations that are being triggered) and let whatever difficult emotions you feel be there. Notice how allowing rather than resisting the emotions softens the sharp edges of your anger, anxiety or pain. And then, in the same way you would gently investigate why your child was crying if they came home from school in tears, investigate what’s going on inside you with that same gentleness. Finally allow yourself to rest in this loving awareness — not identifying with the thoughts or emotions but trusting they will pass.
R.A.I.N. is an acronym for a mindfulness practice that helps us be with difficult emotions — the ones we usually run from or try to numb with distractions or food or alcohol or work or constant busyness. But where do you think the emotions we refuse to feel go? They don’t just disappear. They’re still there, within us, sneaking out in different ways — depression, unworthiness, afraidness.
R.A.I.N. helps you embrace whatever is happening in this moment — joy, pain, fear, loss. It de-conditions the habitual ways you would you usually resist what you are experiencing and brings a new peace, acceptance and openness to our lives.
RAIN stands for:
- R — Recognise what is happening and what you are feeling
- A — Allow life to be the way it is
- I — Investigate your inner experience with kindness
- N — Non-identify with what you are experiencing (your thoughts/emotions/stories are not you)
When you find yourself in a challenging situation this week — maybe your kids are driving you crazy, or you feel overwhelmed with work, or you are stuck in the cycle of never feeling enough, instead of acting habitually, practise R.A.I.N.
Pay attention to what’s going on inside without judgement (the thoughts, feelings and physical sensations that are being triggered) and let whatever difficult emotions you feel be there. Notice how allowing rather than resisting the emotions softens the sharp edges of your anger, anxiety or pain. And then, in the same way you would gently investigate why your child was crying if they came home from school in tears, investigate what’s going on inside you with that same gentleness. Finally allow yourself to rest in this loving awareness — not identifying with the thoughts or emotions but trusting they will pass.
Body Awareness Meditation
Body Awareness Meditation is the practice of wisdom and insight — it is a tool to free us from conditioning, habits, subtle addictions, and thought patterns that cause us to suffer. By exploring the sensations of the body, you can experience truths within yourself — the truth that life is suffering (because everything changes), that the causes of suffering are craving, aversion and fighting with reality, that is possible to stop suffering, and that there is a path for doing so (mainly meditation and moral, mindful living!).
As you practise this meditation you will notice how everything always changes — you might experience the physical pain in your knee change to a burning sensation before changing again to a deep throbbing before changing again to tiny vibrations. And then you might feel an ache in your back or a niggle in your ankle or your trousers might feel really cosy on your legs — each changing and transforming over and over again. And, as these sensations arise, you might feel intense emotions and long-forgotten memories may arise with them — your task is to simply observe each sensation, memory and emotion, allowing them to change and transform and dissolve without getting caught up in them — without judgement or aversion or attachment.
As you practise this meditation you will notice how everything always changes — you might experience the physical pain in your knee change to a burning sensation before changing again to a deep throbbing before changing again to tiny vibrations. And then you might feel an ache in your back or a niggle in your ankle or your trousers might feel really cosy on your legs — each changing and transforming over and over again. And, as these sensations arise, you might feel intense emotions and long-forgotten memories may arise with them — your task is to simply observe each sensation, memory and emotion, allowing them to change and transform and dissolve without getting caught up in them — without judgement or aversion or attachment.
- Simply begin by finding a comfortable seated position, where you can sit with your spine upright, and close your eyes. If you have already practised Breath Awareness Meditation then stay seated with your eyes closed and move onto Body Awareness naturally.
- Begin scanning your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Work slowly, examining each part of your body for any sensations. Don’t search for anything extraordinary, simply observe each sensations as they occur — sharp pain, dull aching, itching, tingling, throbbing, pressure, warmth, cold, pulsation, vibration…
- Avoid analysing where the sensation has come from or allowing any sensation to intensify by liking it or disliking it — instead simply observe it, letting it rise and pass away.
If you can, see if you can keep up the mindful living practices from the last few weeks too. If you need a reminder, I’ve popped them below.
Week 1 -- Don’t Scratch the Itch
Week 2 — Non-Harm
Week 3 — Non-Stealing
Week 4 — Speak Only Kindness
Week 5 — Take a Break From Intoxicants
Week 6 — Conscious Relationships
Week 1 -- Don’t Scratch the Itch
Week 2 — Non-Harm
Week 3 — Non-Stealing
Week 4 — Speak Only Kindness
Week 5 — Take a Break From Intoxicants
Week 6 — Conscious Relationships